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Franken Radio
21 Jan 2004 by Matthew Linderman
Progress Media, the investment group launching a nationwide liberal radio network
inked Al Franken and signed its first distribution deal this week with WNTD in Chicago, the country’s third-largest market.
Newsweek interviewed Franken and he’s got a few funny quips about the illicit behavior of the family-values crowd.
On Rush Limbaugh:
Q: Youve said that Rush just “rails for three hours.”
A: I didnt say that in a wholly derogatory way. Just that youd think that if you did that, just talking for three hours with no guests, no break, youd need to be taking some kind of drug.
On his one brief meeting with G.W. Bush:
I asked him a few questions. This was when the cocaine stuff was coming out and I said, “I dont care if you did it or not but since we are here, I have to ask if you have ever manufactured any crystal methamphetamine.” And he laughed, but Id hoped he would say no. He didnt deny it…But had he denied it, I could have asked him why he never gave a straight denial about the cocaine stuff. So, the one time we met he just completely outsmarted me.
14 comments so far (Post a Comment)
21 Jan 2004 | pb said...
I'm a Dem and find Franken rather boorish. Much of the 3 hour talk radio I'm familiar with has few or no guests. Is his Bush/meth story supposed to be cute?
21 Jan 2004 | pb said...
I'm a Dem and find Franken rather boorish. Much of the 3 hour talk radio I'm familiar with has few or no guests. Is his Bush/meth story supposed to be cute?
22 Jan 2004 | S.A. Miller said...
You know would be a better host?
Howard Dean. When Dean loses the nomination, Progress Media had ought to sign him up. He with his fire and anger, and not Franken, is the left-wing mirror of Rush.
22 Jan 2004 | Brad Hurley said...
I hear he's also planning a cooking show, called FrankenFood.
22 Jan 2004 | Don Schenck said...
James Carville.
22 Jan 2004 | Darrel said...
I like Frank. But even NPR is getting on my nerves these days.
Thank god for iPods.
22 Jan 2004 | Adam said...
National liberal radio.. wait don't we already have NPR?
22 Jan 2004 | greebs said...
NPR is liberal, but it's nothing compared to Fox and whatnot. And relying on a publicly funded station to combat Roger Ailes and whatnot is unrealistic. Thank god someone is doing this...maybe people won't regurgitate what Limbaugh, O'Reilly and Hannity say and believe it's true.
Sounds like Sarah Vowell might be his co-host if you read between the lines...that could be fun.
22 Jan 2004 | Darrel said...
How is NPR liberal? I hear that it is a lot, and I guess I don't disagree, but I'm not really sure what, specifically, makes it easy to label NPR as liberal.
22 Jan 2004 | daven said...
Franken would be wise not to dis Rush too much. After all, Rush is essentially the Michael Jordon (or maybe the Pete Rose?) of talk radio - he brought it out of the toilet and made it possible for all the other guys out there now. There certainly must be a few things a beginner could learn about acquiring and keeping an audience from the guy who invented the genre.
22 Jan 2004 | Pat said...
First of all, let me say that I'm a big fan of Stewart Smalley and I really enjoyed his work on Saturday Night Live. And at first when he started making appearances in character as dim-witted liberal "Al Franken" I thought it was funny. After all, the current state of the Democratic party is a comedy gold mine. But this talk show seems like he's taking it too far. I just don't think that there's an audience for a three hour political comedy show.
23 Jan 2004 | Darrel said...
There certainly must be a few things a beginner could learn about acquiring and keeping an audience from the guy who invented the genre.
I don't think Franken is after the same audience.
I was at the barber last night and the local AM talk radio was playing. They spent about a half hour talking about a guy who wrote an article about a monkey riding a dog at the rodeo. A HALF HOUR! This is the same station that plays the likes of Rush.
I just don't think that there's an audience for a three hour political comedy show.
I doubt ANYONE listens -- I mean actually LISTENS -- to talk radio of any sort for 3 hours.
26 Jan 2004 | billige flge said...
i havent heared of it but where i can hera it
26 Jan 2004 | Kevin said...
Franken is an idiot. He is quick to criticize the views of others, but rarely offers any cogent alternatives.
